All the celestial bodies of the Solar System, from the Sun to meteoric bodies, gradually increase their masses by means of scooping the diffuse matter, its accretion onto their surfaces, as well as the fall of smaller bodies, both belonging to the Solar System and not. The increase of the masses of celestial bodies takes place not only during galactic winters, but also in the periods between them, though, of course, by far less intensively.

Since all the bodies of the Solar System gradually expand and approach the Sun, then there is a rule (though, not without exceptions) that the planets being closer to the Sun are more massive than more distant planets. This regularity is more or less distinct, beginning from Jupiter being the nearest and, accordingly, the largest giant planet of the Solar System. However, as, in the course of time, the free spherical areas (shells) form between the giant planets, the celestial bodies of small mass gradually find themselves there: near the Sun – asteroids, far from it – comets; the totality of these bodies forms asteroid and comet belts consisting of thousands and millions of asteroids and comets.

We have already mentioned that, previously, all the planets were much smaller than they are today, while, in the future, they will be more massive. Many years ago, the giant planets were farther from the Sun than Pluto is today; they were by far less massive and represented not giant but typical ice planets, similar to modern Pluto, Titan or Callisto. The terrestrial planets, including our Earth, were also much smaller by dimensions and mass. In one’s time, Earth was as big as modern Venus, still earlier – perhaps, as Mars.

In the distant past, apparently, several billion years ago, Earth was of such a small size that all the modern continents matched by their edges, so that all the Earth was covered by continent crust only. Then Earth had expanded; its lithosphere split up into single continent plates that parted each other as volume and surface of Earth rose and created oceanic trenches.
The Sun and all the stars also expand in the course of time. Their masses and dimensions, as well as temperatures and luminosities rise with every galactic winter; however, this growth is very irregular, so that, during some galactic winters, the mass increases, perhaps, by several fractions of percent or percents, while, during other winters, when the stars pass through spiral branches, this growth may be estimated at dozens percent or even times.

In the future, the Sun will grow periodically, while previously it was much less by mass and dimensions than it is today. Its temperature and luminosity were lower as well. At present, the Sun is a medium yellow star of G2 class, while some 4 to 5 billion years ago it was a dimmer orange star of K class, and still earlier – a small red star of M class.
But what was still earlier? After all, the Sun always changed its mass, dimensions and luminosity. Does it mean that it was once still smaller?

Indeed, the masses and dimensions of all the existing celestial bodies grow more and more, though irregularly. And if we mentally turn the time back, then we would come to such a period in the development of the Sun when it was not only a hardly visible red star, but also (still earlier) an infrared dwarf that, though having a temperature of about 1000°C at the surface, was invisible, radiating energy in the infrared spectral band. Its mass then was by far less than today, less than that of the smallest modern red dwarfs. According to its mass, the Sun then took the middle position between red dwarfs and Jupiter. And not only by mass, but also by dimensions, luminosity (radiated power) and temperature in depths and on the surface.

If we mentally get to the still earlier period of development of the Sun, then we would come to the conclusion that the Sun of those times was at the stage of modern Jupiter and Saturn, and still earlier – of Neptune and Uranus. However, there is a substantial difference between them. The modern giant planets circulate around its star – the Sun – along their circumsolar orbits, while the ancient giant planet Sun with its small and not numerous satellites circulated not around a star, but (like today) around the centre of the Galaxy. From this, one can draw a conclusion that nowadays, together with star-planet systems, a great number of planet systems circulate around the centre of our Galaxy (and other galaxies); the central body of them is either a red dwarf with the mass of 0.005 to 0.05 Sun masses, a giant planet with the mass of 10 to 1500 Earth masses, or an ice planet with the mass of less than 10 Earth masses. And if we consider the fact, being observed by the astronomers, that the number of stars of Sun mass in the Galaxy is 220 times more than that of the stars with the mass of 10 Sun masses and 220 times less than the number of the stars with the mass of 0.1 Sun masses, then we can draw a conclusion that the number of invisible planet systems in galaxies, the central body in which is either an infrared dwarf, a giant planet, or an ice planet, is by far (perhaps, 10 times) more that that of planet systems with visible star in the centre, at that, not only by number but also by aggregate mass. These very invisible celestial bodies of our Galaxy and other galaxies being situated mainly at the periphery of galaxies represent the matter forming so-called latent mass of our Galaxy and other galaxies. According to the calculations of astronomers, this mass is some 10 times more than the aggregate mass of all the visible stars.

However, let’s recur to the Sun. As we have already said, there was time, when the Sun was a giant planet moving along the orbit around the centre of the Galaxy with its satellites; this orbit was much farther from the galactic centre than it is today. If we mentally go still deeper into the past, then we would see that the Sun had gone through the same way as the giant planets had, i.e. the way from a little ice planet, being smaller than modern Pluto, to a giant planet and then to a star constantly increasing its dimension and mass.

This ice planet, rather a comet, at first, expanded gradually without differentiation of substance in its depths, then there began the process of depth differentiation of matter into shells, different by their density and chemistry, under the influence of heat evolved by radioactive decay, compression and chemical reactions. Then the ice planet, continuing to expand and having reached the size of a planet with mass of approximately 10 Earth masses, turned to a giant planet, the mass of which began to increase much quicker at the expense of acquisition of gaseous component, together with silicate and ice ones. The giant planet Sun, in its turn, expanding in the course of time, turned to an infrared dwarf, then – to a dim red star that, continuing to grow, turned from M class to K class, and then – to G class where it stays to present day. Such was the evolution of the Sun in the past. And what will happen to the Sun in the future?

In the future, the Sun will expand more and more, turning from one spectral class to another, until it reaches the critical mass, after which its growth will cease. The question is that the stars increase their masses periodically, during regular galactic winters. On the contrary, the consumption of substance at the expense of radiation is a constant process. The more massive and, consequently, the hotter is a star, the quicker is this consumption. And if small stars gain more substance at the expense of cosmic precipitations, than they lose owing to radiation, then the large stars with the mass of several dozen Sun masses, during some long period of time, gain the same amount of substance as they lose. There appears a balance between income and expenditure of substance of the star; as a result, further growth of giant stars stops.

During galactic winters, the mass and dimensions of the Sun will grow; in the periods between winters, they will, on the contrary, decrease. And if, during galactic winters, the Sun will shift up and to the left along the main sequence of Herzsprung-Russel (H-R) diagram, then, in the periods between winters, the Sun will drop down and to the right. However, the Sun, at that, will not return to the same point, to the same class or sub-class. With every galactic winter, the Sun will climb up the main sequence, until the balance between income and expenditure of substance is established. At that, however, the chemistry of the Sun will change gradually, since the silicate component, not participating in the circulation of matter in the Universe, will be accumulated little by little in the depths of the Sun. And, sooner or later, the Sun will have to get rid of it, either by means of a flash or explosion, or owing to the reaction of synthesis of chemical elements heavier than hydrogen.

In process of evolution of the Sun, it will not only shift along the main sequence of H-R diagram. Sometimes, the Sun will turn from the main sequence to the sequence of sub-giants, giants and even super-giants with subsequent return to the main sequence. The question is that the diffuse matter being condensed onto the surface of the Sun, as well as the other celestial bodies, during galactic winters has different chemical composition in different gas-dust clouds and nebulas and in different parts of spiral branches in the galactic plane. In some places, there is more dust in diffuse matter, while in others the diffuse matter may consist of hydrogen only; sometimes the proportion of dust may be insignificant – fractions of percent. But sometimes the proportion of silicate component in the diffuse matter being condensed on the surface of the Sun (and other stars) may be very big – some dozen percent.

Diffuse matter of different chemistry being condensed onto the surface of the Sun during galactic winters exerts the different influence upon the Sun. If there is a little of silicate component in the diffuse matter being condensed, then the Sun would shift to the left and up along the main sequence, not overstepping the limits of it. But if the proportion of silicate component in diffuse matter is abnormally high, the Sun would become redder owing to absorption of some part of radiant energy by the dust. For an external observer, the Sun during the accretion of diffuse matter with abnormally high content of dust would look as red or orange sub-giant or giant, depending on the proportion of dust in the diffuse matter, on the size and density of gas-dust cloud in which the Sun is found, and on the mass of the Sun.

Some, especially large, stars, that acquire a lot of diffuse matter with abnormally high content of dust during a regular galactic winter, shift rather far from the main sequence to the zone of super-giants; at that, not only red, but also orange, yellow, etc. On completion of galactic winter, these giants – migrants from the main sequence return into it, since the heating of dust, having been condensed onto the surface of the star, stops in the absence of such and the star takes its previous state.

The dust, being condensed onto the surface of a star and being found in its nearest vicinity, is being heated to visible red colour and begins to radiate; external observers recognize it as the upper layers of the permanent atmosphere of the star, consequently, the density of giant stars turn out to be abnormally low, while the size – abnormally large.

For giant stars, nearly the same effect as for giant planets takes place. Not only the size of solid (or liquid) part of a planet is recognized as the size of planet as a whole, but also the part of atmosphere where the clouds are found. And the higher is the cloud cover, the larger is the size of the planet for the observer and the lower is its density. Similarly, the bigger is the amount of dust being condensed onto the surface of a star during galactic winter, the larger is the size of the star for external observer and the lower is its density. It happens, because the dust condensed onto the star is being included in the atmosphere of the star. And if there is a little dust in the diffuse matter condensed, or if it is absent at all, then the star does not leave the main sequence during galactic winter, but only shifts up and to the left along it, since the diffuse matter being condensed is transparent.

Simultaneously with the expansion of the Sun, the whole Solar System will grow as well. The number of planets, including giant ones, will rise. Then the satellites-stars will appear; first, they will represent dwarfs, formed on the basis of super-giant planets; then they will become larger and larger. The number of them will grow. The Solar System will grow; the number of satellites-stars will amount, first, to units, then – to dozens, and then – to hundreds and thousands. The number of planets, asteroids, comets and meteoric bodies will be still bigger.

Of course not all of the stars will pass through such a “glorious” history, but only a small part of them. The majority of the stars will disappear in the depths of other, more massive stars. Satellites-stars, owing to deceleration in the gas-dust environment and the increase of their masses, gradually approach their central stars and fall onto them one by one. And the stars, circulating along the galactic orbits, gradually approach the galactic nucleus and, in the end, fall onto one of the central stars. As a result of fall of one star onto another, a powerful flash with the emission of great amount of matter into outer space (flashes of novas and super-novas) takes place; this substance replenishes the constantly expendable diffused matter, in such a way maintaining the balance between the star, planet-comet and diffuse forms of matter in the course of the great circulation of matter in the Universe.

A galaxy can be imagined as a super-giant star-planet system, having been formed in process of its evolution from a dwarf galaxy; the latter, in turn – from a smaller star-planet cluster (or association), that was derived from a multiple star-planet system. The latter, in its turn, arose from a simple star-planet system, like the Solar System. And such an evolution of star-planet systems: from tiny to huge ones (galaxies) happens by means of expansion of celestial bodies at the expense of cosmic precipitations, deceleration of celestial bodies in diffuse environment and their approach to their central bodies, as well as the circulation of matter in the Universe.

Celestial bodies can be divided into two main groups: 1) silicate bodies with density of about 3 g/cm3 and more; 2) ice and gaseous bodies with density of about 2 g/cm3 and less. In general, the density of celestial bodies rises in the course of increase of their masses; this rule, apparently, does not concern the giant planets. The density also increases with the approach of celestial bodies to the Sun, as well as to other central bodies. Among the terrestrial planets, and the silicate bodies at all, Mercury has an abnormally high density – 5.4 g/cm3; it is more than that of Mars – 3.95 g/cm3 and even Venus – 5.25 g/cm3. The only explanation of such a high density is the proximity of Mercury to the Sun; previously, Mercury was still closer, since at present it moves away from the Sun under the influence of tidal mechanism, the same way as the Moon moves away from Earth.

One might suppose that, in some distant past, Mercury had a normal density of about 3.7 to 3.8 g/cm3 and, respectively, somewhat bigger mass and, especially, dimensions. Then, after its maximum approach to the Sun, some substance in the depths of Mercury began to decompose under the influence of high temperature. One could assume that triolith (sulphuric iron) was this substance. As a result of decomposition of triolith into iron and sulphur, the former shifted to the core of the planet (that became even larger than the Earth core), while the latter was evaporated to the surface and dissipated into interplanetary space and then to the surface of the Sun. This conclusion can be caused by the fact that the above process, apparently, takes place at present in the depths of Io under the influence of heating owing to powerful tidal friction in its body stipulated by Jupiter. Sulphur volcanoes are known to act on the surface of Io.

The growth of density is explained by the differentiation of depth substance; at that, at a certain stage of development of celestial bodies, gases began to escape and to dissipate into space. Density is also increases owing to compression, condensation of substance under the impact of growing force of gravitational attraction in the course of increase of masses of celestial bodies.
The growth of density of celestial bodies with their expansion and approach to the central body is a rule for all the celestial bodies except the giant planets being apart from the others. In contrast to all the other celestial bodies of the Solar System, gaseous bodies retain a considerable part of gas component, the main constituent of which being hydrogen and helium. As a result, their density decreases. At the same time, the giant planets, on completion of a regular galactic winter, loose a considerable part of their atmospheres owing to growing centrifugal force in the equatorial zone; this waste takes place in different ways.
The quicker is the rotation of a planet and the more extensive is its atmosphere, the larger is the waste. Apparently, the consequence of this rule is the fact that Jupiter is denser than Saturn, and Neptune is denser than Uranus, though, it would seem that the density of giant planets, taking a part of atmosphere into account, should decrease with the growth of their mass and extension of atmosphere.

Another reason of anomalies in the dynamics of density of giant planets is, probably, the fact that over-cloud layers of atmosphere are not considered at determination of average density of planets that distorts the picture to some extent. One more reason of “incorrect” dynamics of densities of giant planets is, maybe, the availability of phase changes of substance under the influence of growth of pressure and temperature; for example, liquefaction and, maybe, solidification of hydrogen and helium on the surface of Jupiter. Finally, the densities of giant planets may also differ owing to different chemical compositions of planets and their atmospheres. After all, even at different continents of Earth, surface layers of substance differ from each other considerably by content of various mineral products: iron ore, etc. One might suppose the same picture for other planets as well. For example, we could assume the proportion of gaseous component of Uranus to be higher than that of Neptune, and that of Saturn – higher than that of Jupiter. The abnormally high density of Jupiter can also be explained by the following fact: as is well known, there is a huge red spot of oval shape in the atmosphere of Jupiter, its width being about 15 and length – about 35 thousand km. It has been clarified that this spot is nothing but a stable whirlwind, the rotation period of which is equal to 6 hours. The increased pressure is observed in the zone of the spot; as a result, the substance of atmosphere (mainly hydrogen, but also some other substances), by means of vortical effect, is being thrown out into over-atmospheric space at high speed. One might suppose that some part of this substance, predominantly hydrogen, is being thrown out into interplanetary space. If it is confirmed in the future, then Jupiter gradually loses its mass. And since the main part of the substance being thrown out is hydrogen, the density of Jupiter should increase; and this takes place in reality. Probably, in distant past, the mass of Jupiter was by far more than today; maybe, it was equal to 350 or 400 or more Earth masses.

As to the abnormally high density of Neptune, one could suppose that previously the mass of Neptune was less than that of Uranus and was equal to 10…12 Earth masses. The rest of substance belonged to Triton – formerly a planet, and then a satellite of Neptune. The latter had “captured” this substance from Triton, having warmed it up by means of powerful tidal friction, so that the substance being evaporated at the surface of Triton (ice component) dissipated and sunk onto the surface of Neptune thanks to its strong gravitational attraction. As a result, an excess of ice component formed in Neptune; its density, as compared to that of Uranus, had risen abnormally. If it is so, the density of Triton should also increase greatly. Maybe, Triton, like Moon, Io and Europa, is a silicate satellite with density of about 3 g/cm3. The density of Neptune rose owing to decrease of proportion of gas component in the course of increase of mass and compression of substance. And the density of Triton rose because it turned from ice to silicate or silicate-ice celestial body.

During galactic winters, owing to deceleration of celestial bodies in gas-dust environment, they gradually approach the central body, circulating around it not along closed ellipses but along spirals; they as if “fall” on it gradually and slowly continuing to circulate around it. As a result, the major semi-axes of orbits of celestial bodies decrease in the course of time. During every galactic winter, all the celestial bodies approach to its central body; however, this approach in non-uniform – it depends upon the relative decelerations of the bodies. And so, the distances between all the neighbouring celestial bodies also change with time: in some pairs it decreases, in others – increases; at that, these changes are irregular: in some pairs they are significant, in others – small, in still the others – absent at all. If the relative decelerations of different celestial bodies of the same origin (for example, distant planets) are the same, then the distances between them would be equal as well. And if the relative decelerations of celestial bodies change evenly in some or other direction, i.e. decrease or, vice versa, increase in the course of moving away from the Sun, then the same even would be the change of interplanetary distances: they would rise or reduce in proportion to the distance to the Sun. The change (decrease) of major semi-axes of orbits of celestial bodies takes place also owing to the increase of masses of celestial bodies, since it causes the increase of force of gravitational attraction between expanding bodies; according to the law of gravity, this force is directly proportional to the product of masses of interacting celestial bodies and inversely proportional to squared distance between them.

The third, but not less important reason of non-uniform distances is the acceleration of celestial bodies under the influence of tidal mechanism. The phenomenon of tide is well-known; so we will not dwell upon it in detail. However, we will mention it in brief, because the tidal effect exerts the great influence over interplanetary distances.

It is well-known that the Moon gradually moves away from Earth under the influence of tidal hump (swelling) in atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere of Earth being caused by the Moon. Since the period of Earth rotation is shorter than the period of circulation of the Moon around Earth, then the tidal swelling is always ahead of the line connecting the Moon and Earth (a little more than 2°). This very hump as if “draws” the Moon by some invisible thread. As a result, Earth slows down its rotation, while the Moon circulates around Earth with acceleration, i.e. not along a closed ellipse, but along an untwisting spiral.

It was found out that the same phenomenon takes place for Deymos – a satellite of Mars. The opposite effect happens to the other satellite of Mars: Phobos approaches its master and in some dozen million years (according to different evaluations – from 2 to 70 million) it will fall onto its surface. The scientists explain this discrepancy in the motion of Deymos and Phobos by the fact that the latter circulate around Mars quicker than Mars rotates around its axis. As a result, the tidal hump being formed in the body of Mars under the influence of attraction of Phobos moves not in front of the line connecting Phobos and Mars (as it is the case for the Moon or Deymos), but behind it. From this, there follows the opposite effect: the movement of Phobos is not accelerated by the tidal swelling, but, vice versa, decelerated. And so, Phobos circulates around Mars along a twisting spiral. And if the Moon and Deymos gradually move away from their planets, then Phobos, on the contrary, approaches it.

The celestial mechanicians have also proved that all the other planet satellites should either move away from their planets, or approach them under the influence of tidal mechanism. At that, all the satellites with reverse circulation (Triton, Phoebe, Ananke, Carme, Pasife and Sinope), irrespective of distances to there planets, should approach them, since the tidal humps caused by these satellites are always behind the lines connecting satellites with planets. The satellites with forward circulation, the periods of circulation of which are longer than periods of rotation of their planets, gradually move away from them (like the Moon and Deymos), while those with period of circulation, that is shorter than the planet rotation period, approach their planets little by little (like Phobos). Only Charon, the satellite of Pluto, is at stationary orbit: its period of circulation is exactly equal to the period of rotation of Pluto (6.39 days).

Concerning the question of circulation of planets around the Sun, it’s easy to see that, since the periods of circulation of all the planets are longer than that of rotation of the Sun, the latter (like Earth) should rotate with deceleration under the influence of tidal friction caused by the planets in its body, while the planets should gradually move away from the Sun, the same way as the Moon moves away from Earth, Deymos – from Mars, Galilean satellites – from Jupiter, etc.

During deceleration of celestial bodies in gas-dust environment, the speed of their approach to the central bodies only depends on the values of their relative deceleration; the latter, in its turn, depends upon a number of factors: density of gas-dust environment, dimensions of celestial bodies, their speeds, etc. Acceleration of celestial bodies under the influence of tidal mechanism also depends on a series of factors, mainly on the distance between the bodies: it is inversely proportional to the cube of distance. For example, if Earth is half as far from the Sun, then it should move away from it 8 times as fast.

Acceleration also depends upon the masses of both interacting bodies and the elasticity (hardness) of central body, as well as upon the facts, whether the central body is solid or gaseous, whether the solid body has hydrosphere and atmosphere and of what extension, and, probably, upon other factors.

On the whole, one can say quite confidently that the nearer are the celestial bodies to the central body, the quicker, on average, is their moving away from it during galactic summer. If we bear in mind only the dependence of planet acceleration upon the distance from the Sun, then the relative accelerations of the planets, being evaluated in Earth accelerations, would be as follows:

Mercury

17,2

Venus

2,7

Earth

1,0

Mars

0,3

Jupiter

0,007

Saturn

0,001

Uranus

0,00015

Neptune

0,00004

Pluto

0,000016

When considering the table of relative decelerations, we saw that Mercury, having too big relative deceleration – 5 times more than that of other terrestrial planets on average should supposedly be closer to the Sun than it is in reality. Now we see why it is not so: if, during galactic winters, Mercury approach the Sun sooner than the others, then, during galactic summers, it moves off from the Sun still quicker – 17 times quicker on average. It means that the distance between Mercury and other planets should gradually reduce.

The same relates to Venus: its relative deceleration is equal to 1.53, while relative acceleration – to 2.7. Consequently, the distance between Venus and Earth, probably, decreases as well. The same way decreasing are, maybe, the distances between Earth and Mars, Mars and Jupiter, Jupiter and Saturn.

The relative decelerations of distant planets are so much predominant over their relative accelerations that the latter could be neglected.

Comparing these tables one could draw the distinct conclusion: beginning from some distance from the Sun, the distances between planets over a long period of time (for example, from one passing through a spiral branch of the Galaxy to the next one, so that this period includes at least one severe galactic winter) should decrease with approaching the planets to the Sun. In other words, distances between planets (satellites) should be directly proportional to the distances from planets (satellites) to the Sun (planets). The only planets that do not obey this rule are Pluto and Mercury. As these planets are the smallest ones, this violation can be explained by their small masses and big decelerations.

The celestial bodies of the Solar System, circling the Sun, are being decelerated in gas-dust environment during galactic winters non-uniformly along their orbits. The maximum deceleration is in perihelion, i.e. in the point of the orbit that is nearest to the central body, while the minimum resistance is in aphelion – the most distant point from the Sun. It is stipulated by the fact that a celestial body has the highest orbital speed in perihelion, and the lowest – in aphelion. For example, if Mercury circles the Sun along the circular orbit with the radius equal to the perihelion of its modern elliptical orbit, i.e. 46 million km from the Sun, then its orbital speed would increase so that Mercury would circle the Sun in approximately 62 days, its period of rotation being almost equal to the period of circulation. However, Mercury circles the Sun along a slightly elongated orbit with the eccentricity of 0.206; thus, in aphelion, at the distance of 70 million km from the Sun, it has a lower speed.

The deceleration of celestial bodies in gaseous environment depends upon the speed of their motion; at that, deceleration is directly proportional to squared speed (inversely proportional to the distance from the central body). It means that, if a celestial body, circling the central body along an elongated orbit, have the perihelion orbital speed that is 3 times higher than that in aphelion, then its deceleration here would be 9 times more than that in aphelion. It is clear that the celestial body would have the maximum deceleration in perihelion, and the minimum – in aphelion. But, having decelerated in perihelion, the celestial body will not reach the same point in aphelion, through which it passed at previous turn, but will pass closer to the central body.

In aphelion, the celestial body will decelerate as well, but to less extent, and though, in perihelion, it will be closer to the central body than it was at previous turn, but this difference will be much smaller than in aphelion (ref. Fig. 7). Of course, during one circulation of a planet around the Sun, this approach to the latter will be negligibly small, but during millions of turns it will be very perceptible. And this will lead to gradual rounding the elongated orbits of celestial bodies.

In addition to this, apparently, the main mechanism of decrease of elongation (eccentricity) of orbits of celestial bodies, there is also another mechanism promoting (though, apparently, to lower extent) the reduction of eccentricities of the orbits of celestial bodies. It is connected with the fact that the diffuse matter being condensed onto the central body gets denser with the approach to the surface of central body.

The increase of density of condensing gas-dust matter takes place, first, owing to the reduction of surface of the sphere through which the diffuse matter moves during its accretion in the course of approach to the surface of the body. It is well-known that the density of gas shells having been thrown off by the stars during flashes in them (novas, super-novas, planetary nebulas) decreases with moving away from the stars. On the contrary, if all these shells approach the stars, their density should rise.
The second reason of increase of the density of diffuse matter being condensed onto the surfaces of celestial bodies is, obviously, the reduction of speed of its “fall” onto the surface owing to counteraction of gas pressure and centrifugal force of rotating celestial bodies.

The increase of density of gaseous environment in the course of approach to the central body leads, first, to the fact that the deceleration of celestial bodies in perihelion is bigger than that in aphelion; and, second, to the fact that the celestial bodies, situated closer to the central body, are decelerated stronger than more distant ones.

If, during deceleration and, consequently, approach of celestial bodies to the central body, their eccentricities decrease, then, during their acceleration in the period of galactic summer under the influence of tidal mechanism, their eccentricities, on the contrary, rise. This is explained by the fact that, in perihelion, the tidal wave is more powerful and, consequently, it accelerates the movement of celestial bodies to greater extent; as a result, the aphelion increases its height quicker than perihelion does.

And the eccentricities of satellites having negative acceleration (Phobos, Triton, etc.) decrease all the galactic year round: both because of deceleration in gas-dust environment, and owing to deceleration under the influence of tidal mechanism.

It is well-known that all the planets of the Solar System circle the Sun in forward direction. So does the majority of satellites. Only two of the large satellites – Triton and Phoebe – circle their central bodies in reverse direction. But if we consider smaller celestial bodies of the Solar System, we could reveal a lot of comets with reverse direction of circulation.
There are two clear regularities in distribution of celestial bodies of the Solar System with respect to direction of circulation. The first one lies in the fact that, if we divide all the celestial bodies into groups according to their masses, then it would become clear that the number of celestial bodies with reverse direction of circulation rises with the transition from the groups of more massive bodies to the groups of less massive ones. Thus, there are no planets with reverse circulation, there are few of such bodies among satellites, but much more (both by number, and by proportion) – among comets. One might suppose that the smallest bodies of the Solar System (small comets and meteoric bodies) include especially great number (and percentage) of celestial bodies with reverse circulation.

The second regularity lies in the fact that the number of celestial bodies with reverse direction of circulation decreases with approaching the central body. Only one of the satellites with reverse circulation – Triton – is near its planet (353 thousand km); the rest of them are rather far: from 12 million km – Phoebe, to 27 million km – Sinope. Still more striking is the difference in circulation directions of small bodies of the Solar System: nearly all the asteroids from the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter have forward direction of circulation, while the comets from comet belts located between the orbits of giant planets and beyond the orbit of Neptune have various directions: both forward, and reverse.

If we consider the angles of inclination of orbital planes of celestial bodies to the equatorial planes of their central bodies, then we should discover the same rule: the farther are the celestial bodies from their central body, the larger is the inclination. The farthest planet – Pluto – being the smallest planet, has the biggest inclination. The majority of satellites being located close to their planets circulate around them almost in the planes of their equators; distant satellites, on the contrary, have big angles of inclination. The same concerns asteroids and comets. If we take big groups of small bodies with approximately equal numbers of them, then the average inclination would be smaller for the bodies that are bigger and closer to the central body.

All these regularities, as well as the fact that all satellites of Uranus known so far circle it in forward direction to their master, but in reverse direction with respect to the Sun and Solar System, lead us to the conclusion that there exists a mechanism forcing the celestial bodies to alter their direction of circulation in such a way that the reverse direction changes into forward one, and large inclinations reduce, tending to zero. Circulation of satellites of Uranus tells us that the alteration of orbit inclinations of celestial bodies is connected somehow with the central body, compelling their satellites to change their orbits.
Cosmic precipitations and deceleration of celestial bodies in gas environment cannot change the directions of their motion; nevertheless, the mechanism of alteration of inclination of the orbits of celestial bodies is directly connected with the availability of galactic winters.

In process of condensation of diffuse matter onto the surface of a celestial body during galactic winter, a kind of huge atmosphere appears around it. This atmosphere differs greatly from usual atmosphere of the celestial body existing in the periods between galactic winters. It has a number of peculiarities, distinguishing it from usual atmosphere. First, this atmosphere represents a temporary formation; it exists in the periods of galactic winters only. On completion of a regular galactic winter, this atmosphere is being gradually condensed or dissipated. Thus, it could be called winter atmosphere. However, one should bear in mind that this winter atmosphere exists during millions of earthly years. All the celestial bodies, including, apparently, small ones, acquire this winter atmosphere. Second, winter atmosphere, in contrast to “summer” one existing at present around large celestial bodies of the Solar System, has enormous size; it is multiply larger than summer atmosphere. But it does not mean that all the Solar System is found in a single atmosphere that is common for all the celestial bodies. Although some part of the Solar System sinks into the single solar atmosphere, every planet also has its own extensive planet atmosphere. Third, winter atmosphere of each celestial body is very rarefied, especially at its periphery. Its density is multiply lower than that of summer, i.e. modern atmosphere. Fourth, this winter atmosphere, like modern summer one, rotates together with its celestial body in the same direction, but this rotation is of differentiated kind, i.e. the lower part of winter atmosphere, being closer to the surface of the celestial body and closer to its equatorial plane, rotates somewhat quicker than remaining parts being farther from the surface and from equatorial belt. And, fifth, the outer part of winter atmosphere is not of spherical but of greatly oblate shape. As observations for the stars testify, the celestial bodies with great speed of rotation have elongated and rarefied atmospheres in the form of gas disks.

It is in such a winter atmosphere, that all the celestial bodies of the Solar System, located close to the central body, are found during every galactic winter. The nearest planets circle the Sun being submerged into its enormously extensive and rarefied atmosphere. Closer satellites circulate around their planets being immersed into their extensive atmospheres. To find out what happens to the celestial bodies in such a case, let’s turn to Figure 8.

In the period between galactic winters, planet P circled its central body S with the inclination of about 90°, passing, time and again, the same points P1 and P2 in northern and southern celestial hemispheres respectively. With the beginning of galactic winter, the celestial body circles the central body S, being submerged into its rarefied and oblate atmosphere that, along with body S itself rotates from right to left along the arrows on the figure above.

When passing from northern to southern hemisphere, the body P finds itself in the flow of rarefied gas attacking it from one side. As a result, the gas flow, having imparted some share of its momentum to the body P, makes the latter deviate from its trajectory and come not into point P2, as before, but into the point P3 slightly to the left from it. Passing from southern to northern hemisphere, the body P, under the influence of gas flow, moving from left to right with respect to the body, i.e. in reverse direction, follows its trajectory and comes to point P4 being slightly to the right from point P1. Then, at the next turn around body S, the body P gets to point P5, still more shifted from point P2, etc.

As a result, the orbital plane of body P will gradually turn around, approaching the equatorial plane of body S more and more. With every turn around central body S, the inclination of orbital plane of celestial body P will reduce. If the inclination was initially more than 90°, and, consequently, the body P was initially a body of reverse circulation, it would first gradually approach to forward rotation, while the angle of inclination – to right angle. Then, continuing to change, the inclination will become less than 90°, and the direction of circulation will become forward.

Figure 8 shows, that only neighbouring bodies (planets and satellites) circling the central body S can get to its winter atmosphere in equatorial zone. However, all the celestial bodies are subject to changing the direction of circulation. The question may arise: how does the direction of circulation of distant planets and satellites change from inverse to forward? Is there a corresponding mechanism for this? Yes, there is. Its availability is being prompted by the remains of once powerful rings of giant planets.

During galactic winters, especially severe ones, when the Solar System crosses the galactic plane in the zone of spiral branch, the axial rotation of celestial bodies speeds up, so that, by the end of galactic winter, celestial bodies rotate much quicker than they did before. This leads to the fact that, in the end, the upper layers of extended winter atmosphere in the equatorial zone acquire the first cosmic speed; after that, gas rings begin to emerge from the atmosphere becoming independent from the celestial body and its atmosphere. On the heels of the first gaseous ring, having the linear velocity equal to that of upper layers of atmosphere in over-equatorial region, the second ring forms soon, then – third, fourth, etc.
These gaseous rings cannot merge into one larger ring, because the excessive gravitational attraction of the celestial body in equatorial zone prevents this; in a similar way, water, running along a gutter, flows only in its lower part, but not along all the surface of the gutter: bottom and walls. And the rings cannot deviate from the equatorial plane of the celestial body and dissipate in interplanetary space, the same way as water cannot deviate from the bottom of the gutter and run along its wall. In both cases, such deviations are prohibited by stronger gravitational attraction at the bottom of gutter – for water, and in the equatorial plane – for gaseous rings of celestial bodies.

That’s what happens to the rings. The second gaseous ring, having appeared soon after the first one, begins to put pressure upon it, under the influence of which, the first gaseous ring begins to move away from the celestial body, remaining in the plane of its equator. At that, orbital velocity of the first ring decreases slightly, the same way as the orbital velocity of the Moon, reducing in the course of its slow withdrawal from Earth. However, some energy is needed for this gradual withdrawal of the first gaseous ring. The latter gets this energy from the second ring that, in its turn, replenishes its energy losses at the expense of atmosphere of the celestial body.

Right after the second gaseous ring, the third one appears, then – fourth, … , tenth, etc. At that, the latest (lowest) ring presses on the neighbouring ring that appeared next to last, giving it some part of its momentum. The next to last ring presses on its neighbouring ring from the top imparting a share of its mechanical energy to it. And so forth, up to the topmost gaseous ring.
Each ring, first, puts pressure upon neighbouring top ring in the zone of their contact, forcing it to move away from the central body gradually, i.e. to move with acceleration; second, it itself is being pressed by the neighbouring ring from below, moving away from the central body as well. Third, all the rings are located in the equatorial plane. Fourth, the orbital speed of each ring is more than that of top neighbouring ring and less than that of bottom neighbouring one. Fifth, each ring, moving away from the central body, imparts some share of its momentum to the top neighbouring ring and gets some part of momentum from the bottom neighbouring ring. And, sixth, apparently, each gaseous ring imparts also some share of its substance to the top ring while replenishing the loss at the expense of the lower ring; the lowest ring does it from the atmosphere of the celestial body.
During galactic winters, every rapidly rotating planet, as well as the Sun, has, obviously, a great number of gaseous rings, consisting mainly of hydrogen and helium. And the system of such rings, multiply more extensive than its modern remains around Saturn, even more so – around Jupiter and Uranus, forms an enormous gaseous disk rotating differentially around the celestial bodies.

It is this disc that the planets and satellites go through periodically in process of their circulation around the Sun and planets, the same way as the star-planet systems passing through the gas-dust plane of the Galaxy in the course of circulation around its centre. In addition to the fact that the satellites, passing through the gas disc of the central body, catch up some part of its substance being slowed down by it, they also begin, under the influence of gas flow, to change the reverse direction of circulation for forward one; and those of them having forward direction of circulation decrease the inclination angle of their orbits to the equatorial plane of the central body, just as the close satellites getting to the upper layers of winter atmosphere in the equatorial plane (ref. Fig. 8 above).

Of course, during one circulation, this change of inclination will be negligibly small, but during millions of years of galactic winter it will be very appreciable. On no account does it mean that the reverse circulation changes for forward one during just one galactic winter. It takes, perhaps, several winters for this to occur. But, sooner or later, the direction of circulation changes and the celestial bodies that previously circulated in reverse direction inevitably begin to circulate in forward direction. Moreover, for all the celestial bodies, the inclinations of their orbital planes to the equatorial plane of the central body will reduce more and more, tending to zero.

Thus, the longer is the overall period of circulation of a celestial body around the Sun or its planet, the smaller should be the angle of inclination of its orbit to the equatorial plane of the central body – the Sun or a planet. And so, almost all celestial bodies, that are large and close to the Sun or planets, circle them in forward direction and with small inclinations. But there is an exception that needs its explanation. We mean Triton being the only satellite in the Solar System of big size and mass and, at the same time, circulating around its planet in reverse direction. Besides, Triton is located near Neptune. We shall dwell upon this question later.

One might suppose that there are also other mechanisms of alteration of orbital plane inclination of planets and satellites and it is no need to create such a complex mechanism of alteration. Indeed, there are several more mechanisms explaining the change of orbit inclination. First, the inclinations could be changed under the influence of equatorial swelling of the central body; second, under the impact of cosmic precipitations; and, third, under the influence of magnetic field of the central body. However, all these mechanisms are auxiliary ones; they only supplement the main mechanism we told about; at that, some of these auxiliary mechanisms of alteration of orbit inclination may now strengthen, now weaken the action of the main mechanism.

If the main mechanism of alteration of orbit inclination of celestial bodies is connected with the impact of cosmic precipitations, then all the satellites of Uranus would be located not in equatorial plane of the planet, but in the plane of its orbit. If the main mechanism is connected with equatorial swelling, then some half of planets and satellites, being located in the equatorial plane of the central body, would circle it in reverse direction. And if the main mechanism is connected with magnetic field, then, for example, Charon would not lie in the equatorial plane of Pluto; the latter, apparently, does not have its own magnetic field.

Periods and directions of axial rotation of celestial bodies of the Solar System are, probably, the most varied characteristics of all. All the large bodies of the Solar System can be divided into three groups according to type of their axial rotation. One group embraces the celestial bodies with forward non-synchronized rotation. It contains seven planets: Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto and the satellite of Saturn – Titan. The second group unites the bodies with forward synchronous axial rotation. This group includes the largest satellites of the Solar System: Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Triton, Charon, etc. The third group embraces only three celestial bodies of the Solar System: the Sun, Venus and Uranus, having the reverse axial rotation.

As to the small bodies of the Solar System, each of them relates to one of these three groups; therefore, we will not consider them all separately.

The speed and direction of axial rotation of celestial bodies are mainly determined by two factors, one of which, as a rule, speeds up the axial rotation, while the other, on the contrary, decelerates it. The former one is the fall of cosmic precipitations – diffuse matter and small bodies – onto the surfaces of celestial bodies. Acceleration of forward axial rotation of celestial bodies takes place, because the contrary flow of cosmic precipitations has by far greater speed with regard to the celestial body, than tail flow. And of all the contrary flow of cosmic precipitations, those precipitations, falling onto the surface of a celestial body from the direction of the central body, have the biggest speed. This fact can be explained by the increase of velocity of precipitations under the influence of gravitational attraction of the central body, to which they are closer than those precipitations falling onto the outer side of the celestial body (ref. Fig. 9).

If a celestial body rotated in forward direction before the galactic winter, then, during winter, its axial rotational speed would rise. And if the body rotated in reverse direction, then, in the course of galactic winter, its speed would decrease. Therefore, almost all the large bodies of the Solar System increase the speed of their axial rotation with the beginning of a regular galactic winter. Only Venus and Uranus slow down their axial rotation. The Sun also speeds up its axial rotation, although it rotates in reverse direction with respect to its orbital circulation.

The point is that the stars circulate around the centre of Galaxy according to laws different from those determining the circulation of a planet around the Sun. In the Solar System, the linear and angular orbital velocities of planets are inversely proportional to their distances to the Sun. Let’s compare two opposite planets of the Solar System – Mercury and Pluto. The orbital velocity of Pluto is equal to 4.7 km/sec, while that of Mercury – 47.9 km/sec, i.e. 10 times as much. The period of circulation of Mercury is equal to 0.24 years, while that of Pluto – 248.4 years, i.e. about 1000 times as much. Therefore, the angular velocity of Mercury is also 1000 times more than that of Pluto.

On the contrary, the stars being not far from the centre of the Galaxy (and the Sun is among them) circle the latter with the same angular velocity (as the astronomers assert). And this means that the linear orbital speed of the stars is directly proportional to their distances to the galactic centre. If a star is twice as far from the centre than another one, then its linear velocity would also be twice as much. If all the planets of the Solar System move according to this law, then Pluto, being 100 times farther from the Sun than Mercury is, would have 100 times bigger linear speed, not 10 times less, as it is in reality.

But if the stars move at the same angular velocity, then the cosmic precipitations moving in opposite direction also have the same angular speed. And the linear speeds of cosmic precipitations are somewhat different: precipitations falling onto the internal side of the Sun (i.e. the side facing the galactic centre) have smaller linear velocity, than precipitations sinking onto the outer side. And though this difference of speeds is insignificant, but it does exist and cosmic precipitations falling onto the surface of the Sun gradually untwist the Sun in the direction opposite to that of its orbital movement. As a result, the Sun circles the centre of Galaxy clockwise, while rotating around its axis counterclockwise.

The tidal friction, caused in lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere of celestial bodies by the central body, satellites and neighbouring celestial bodies – planets, satellites, asteroids and comets, is a factor decelerating the axial rotation of celestial bodies. The closer and the more massive are the bodies causing tidal friction, the stronger is tidal deceleration. The maximum deceleration of axial rotation of celestial bodies by tidal friction is produced by the central bodies over their nearest satellites. As a result of powerful tidal friction caused by the Sun on Mercury and Venus, the latter have very small velocities of axial rotation. And Earth, Jupiter, Saturn and other planets have so much decelerated the rotation of their satellites, at least – the nearest ones, by means of tidal friction, that the latter rotate around their axes synchronously, i.e. with the periods equal to those of circulation around their planets, and, consequently, they always face their central bodies with one and the same side.

Satellites also decelerate the axial rotation of their planets, though this effect is much weaker owing to smaller masses of the former as compared to those of the latter. And Charon – the satellite of Pluto – having a big mass, comparing to that of its master, have so much decelerated the axial rotation of Pluto, that the latter is also turned to Charon with one and the same side, i.e. the planet rotates synchronously with respect to its satellite. All the planets also decelerate the axial rotation of the Sun, but this influence is negligible.

It is interesting that Mercury, being the nearest planet, does not face the Sun with one and the same side, like the nearest satellites of planets; it has forward, though very slow, rotation. This is explained by the fact that Mercury has an appreciable eccentricity (0.206) and, therefore, its distance to the Sun and orbital velocity change a lot. If Mercury moves along its orbit at constant speed, then the period of its axial rotation would be exactly equal to that of its circulation around the Sun. But, since the Sun exerts the maximum tidal influence upon Mercury in perihelion, where the orbital speed of Mercury is the largest, this fact leaves a mark on its axial rotation. If, in aphelion, the speed of axial rotation of Mercury is more than the angular velocity of its orbital circulation, then, in perihelion, the angular orbital speed is more than the speed of axial rotation. As a result, the tidal friction caused by the Sun in the body of Mercury acts sometimes increasing the axial velocity of Mercury, sometimes reducing it. At one part of orbit of Mercury, that contains its aphelion, the Sun decelerates its axial rotation, while at the other part of orbit, in the centre of which the perihelion is located, the Sun, on the contrary, speeds up its axial rotation.

The segment of Mercury’s orbit, where its axial rotation is accelerated by the Sun, is smaller than the other segment, where the axial rotation of the planet is slowed down. But, at the former segment, Mercury is located half as much again closer to the Sun; consequently, the force of attraction here is 2.3 times more than in aphelion. And the total influence (acceleration) being exerted by the Sun at this shorter segment is, apparently, the same as the reverse influence (deceleration) at the other, longer segment. In short, the Sun as much speeds up the axial rotation of Mercury at shorter, perihelion part of its orbit, as it slows it down at longer, aphelion part of the orbit. Owing to this circumstance, the period of axial rotation of Mercury is shorter than the period of its circulation around the Sun.

We have said above that the seven planets of the Solar System have forward non-synchronous axial rotation. However, there are also significant differences in parameters of their rotation. First, Pluto, unlike all the other planets, rotates synchronously with respect to its satellite Charon, i.e. the period of rotation of Pluto is equal to the period of circulation of Charon around Pluto. Second, Earth, Mars, Saturn and Neptune have significant slopes of equatorial planes to the planes of their orbits: from 23° to 29°. The reason of synchronous rotation of Pluto is quite clear: the planet rotates synchronously under the influence of tidal friction from the side of its relatively massive satellite. As to the big angles of slope of equatorial planes for a number of planets, as well as reverse rotation of Uranus and Venus, the nebular hypotheses cannot explain these facts. However, the hypothesis proposed by the author explains the large slopes of equatorial planes of the planets quite simply.

The small bodies of the Solar System, that form planets in the course of their gradual growth, have various angles of inclination of their orbits to the equatorial plane of the Sun, including those having the inclination of more than 90°, i.e. circulating in reverse direction. At that, small bodies, like planets, rotate around their axes, the angles of slope of their equatorial planes to their orbital planes being negligible; the smaller are the sizes and masses of celestial bodies and the farther they are from the central body, the smaller are these angles, though there may be exceptions to this rule. In the course of time, the inclinations of orbits of celestial bodies to the equatorial plane of the central body decrease; at that, the reverse circulation changes for the direct one. Inclinations of orbits of celestial bodies decrease more and more with every galactic winter, tending to zero. And so, there appears a discrepancy between the planes of orbits of celestial bodies and the planes of their equators: the angle of slope of equatorial plane to the orbital plane forms. Let us suppose that the inclination of orbit of a celestial body is equal to 40°, the angle of slope of equatorial plane to the orbital plane being equal to 0°. If, in some period of time, the inclination has decreases by 10° and is equal to 30°, the angle between the equatorial plane and the ecliptic plane remaining the same, then the slope of equatorial plane to the orbital plane, equal to 10°, would appear.

The fact that many celestial bodies, both large and small ones, have the slopes of equatorial planes to the planes of their orbits, only indicates that previously these bodies circulated around the central body with larger inclinations than they do today. Then the inclinations decreased; the slopes of their equatorial planes rose instead. If equatorial planes of celestial bodies do not change their orientation in the course of time, in contrast to their orbital planes, it would be very simple to determine their initial directions of circulation around the central body. For this, it would be enough to add up the angle of slope of equatorial plane to the orbital plane and the angle of inclination of orbital plane to the equatorial plane of the Sun. If, at present, the inclination of a celestial body is equal to 3°, while the slope is equal to 25°, then we could draw the conclusion that initially this body circulated around the central body with orbit inclination of 28°, the slope of equatorial plane being equal to zero. But the point is that, in the course of time, not only inclination of orbital planes of celestial bodies reduce more and more – so does also the slope of equatorial planes, tending to zero. And so, concerning the above example we can only say that, previously, the celestial body under consideration circled the central body with orbit inclination of more than 28°.

Therefore, we can say that, in the distant past, Earth circled the Sun along the orbit having the inclination angle of more than 23° with respect to its modern orbit, Neptune – more than 29°, Uranus – more than 98°.

We have already considered how the change of orbit inclinations of celestial bodies takes place. And the change of direction of axial rotation of celestial bodies at the given moment is determined exclusively by the direction of their circulation around the central body. The direction of axial rotation of celestial bodies is determined by the direction of their circulation around the central body during the fall of cosmic precipitations onto their surfaces, i.e. predominantly during galactic winters; because the oncoming cosmic precipitations, having fallen onto inner, with respect to the central body, side of surface of celestial body, acquire (under the influence of gravitational attraction of the central body) greater kinetic energy in comparison with the precipitations falling onto the outer surface of celestial body. This surplus momentum of cosmic precipitations turns into forward rotational movement of celestial bodies in their orbital planes. Therefore, the forward rotation of celestial bodies speeds up, reverse rotation slows down, while the equatorial plane tends to coincide with the orbital plane, since it is the cosmic precipitations, moving towards a celestial body in the plane of its orbit, that have the maximum speed with respect to the celestial body.

As a result, in the course of a regular galactic winter, not only acceleration of forward rotation or deceleration of reverse one takes place, but also the change of slope of the equatorial plane to the orbital plane of the celestial body occurs. At the same time, as we have seen above, the change of inclination of orbital plane takes place. Consequently, the slope of equatorial plane changes with some delay. The equatorial plane tends to coincide with the orbital plane, while the latter moves away from the former, tending to coincide with the equatorial plane of the central body. In the long run, both equatorial and orbital plane of each celestial body will coincide with the equatorial plane of the central body, but first the orbital plane will coincide with equatorial plane of the central body, and then the equatorial plane will do so. Alterations of orbital plane inclination and of equatorial plane slope take place simultaneously and in the same direction – towards the equatorial plane of the central body; however, the rates of change of orbit inclination and equator slope are extremely different. And this is the main point. Let us suppose that the inclination of orbit of Uranus changed 2.5 times faster than the slope of its equator did.

Then it turns out that at the time, when the slope of equator was equal to zero, the inclination of orbit was about 163°. During many galactic winters, both equator slope and orbit inclination of Uranus have changed a lot. At that, the equator slope has changed by 65° and is now equal to 98°, while the orbit inclination has changed 2.5 times more, i.e. by 162.5°, and almost coincides with the equatorial plane of the Sun.

Alteration of both orbit inclinations and equator slopes of celestial bodies during galactic winters takes place and will take place, until the inclination of orbit and then the slope of equator are equal to zero. The availability of these angles testifies that previously the orbit inclinations were somewhat larger than modern slopes of equators.